


Ten

by joyeusenoelle



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), They Were Eleven
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-11 16:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4442483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyeusenoelle/pseuds/joyeusenoelle





	1. Chapter 1

Two cadets were practically pressed up at the transport’s viewscreen; the chamber was almost too small for them to do otherwise anyway. They could no longer see the space station that had been their home for six years, and the stars looked bright and crisp without any atmosphere to distort or twinkle them. One of the cadets, short and red, elbowed the tall, thin gem standing next to her. “Where do you think we’ll end up?”

“I bet it’s a desert planet. Just us and our wits. Maybe an old Kindergarten to scavenge for parts.”

“Shut up, they wouldn’t do that.” The red gem looked up. “Would they?”

“They could do anything. You know nobody’s allowed to talk about these tests after they’re done."

“Brace for fold,” said the pilot over the intercom. A few cadets strapped themselves into crash seats, but the rest just looked at the viewscreen expectantly. The stars flashed and vanished, and a new set replaced them, along with a sea of glimmering reflections in the dark. “Fold complete,” the pilot reported.

“Starships,” breathed one of the cadets behind them. “This must be a shipyard.”

“Do any of them have lights on?” asked another.

The taller cadet shrugged. “For all we know they might not have windows. We sure don’t.”

“That we know about,” said a gem, and everyone laughed a little.

“Look, you can just see the outlines - a hand, and an arm. And there’s a torso.” One of the gems at the front pointed.

“I always thought making ships in the shape of gems was creepy,” a cadet said. “Our buildings don’t look like us.”

“Except the temples.”

A gem at the back of the room spoke up. “They do not need to be aerodynamic, so why bother? They can be whatever shape they want, and this one lets other worlds know that they are dealing with the Diamond Authority.”

“We could do that without making them look like dismembered gems.”

“If you’re squeamish-”

“No! It’s just creepy.”

The shuttle swept closer to one of the darkened ships, long and slender. “A leg,” said one of the cadets, and it seemed true; the proportions were right. Almost at the same time, a ring at the side of the ship began to glow, pulsing red in the dark and illuminating the skin of the ship.

“Brace for docking,” the pilot said, and the cadets could feel the ship turn, although the viewscreen stayed facing the glowing ring at the side of the ship. It continued to grow, dropping lower in the viewscreen’s field of vision; when it passed completely out of view, there was a thump, and the ship shook slightly, unbalancing a few of the cadets.

“Rocky start,” one of them said.

“Must be an older ship. No docking buffers.”

“Or they’re just not turned on.”

The intercom switched on again. “Cadets, congratulations on making it to the final round of training. The nine of you will be together for the remainder of your training. We expect you to make the best of your situation. Any who successfully complete this training will become full officers under the Diamond Authority.”

The pilot paused. “You will find further instructions on the bridge. You will not be permitted to contact Homeworld during this segment of training, and you are expected to solve any problems you encounter yourselves. Is this understood?”

The “yes, ma’am”s from the cadets were scattered, some quieter than others, but they all said it.

“Very well. The airlock will open in five seconds.” The viewscreen went dark, and the cadets all turned to face the rear hatch. In the promised five seconds, it irised open, revealing a darkened chamber, lit only by a dim red light whose source they couldn’t see and a matching red ring around the lock’s inner iris.

The first surprise was that as soon as the cadets left the shuttle, the gravity stopped, and one of the gems shrieked and started flipping end over end, stopping only when she’d reached the far end of the airlock. The shuttle’s door slid shut behind them once everyone was inside the larger ship. “Remember,” said the pilot over the ship-to-ship intercom, “the nine of you have to solve all problems yourselves. Good luck, cadets.”

There was another thump, and the dim red light went out, leaving only the iris ring for illumination. “Well,” said the gem nearest the inner ring, “looks like our first problem is getting into the ship. Can anyone give me a light?”

“I can,” volunteered a lanky gem. She pushed forward and the stone on her shoulder lit up, revealing the room.

“Great,” said the first gem, orange with shock of red hair, her gem in her forehead. “Let’s get to work.”

After a minute’s searching, the orange gem found a panel on the wall that lit up faintly when she touched it. “I bet this is it,” she said, and turned her fingertips clockwise, then counterclockwise. There was a click, then a hiss, and the iris began to open.

Then it caught, halfway.

“Well, that’s no good,” said the orange gem. “I wonder if it’s not fully powered, or if it’s just old.”

The short red gem shoved forward. “I can handle this.” She raised her fist and a gauntlet shimmered into existence. “Let’s give it the ol’ Ruby pound—”

“No, wait,” said the gem with the light. “We might need this later. Anyone else?”

Ruby muttered but put the gauntlet away. Meanwhile, a yellow gem from the back was making her way forward. “I don’t know if my staff will help,” she said, “but it might be worth a try?”

“How come her staff will work but my fist won’t?” demanded Ruby.

“No, I see what she’s getting at. All right,” said the orange gem. She looked up at the ceiling, then pointed to Ruby. “We’re gonna need you after all. Get on up there and put your gauntlet on.” Ruby muttered some more but launched herself to the ceiling and grabbed one of the handholds on the wall. “Now you,” the orange gem said, “get your staff out.”

The yellow gem concentrated and pulled a long, golden quarterstaff from her chest. She placed the end of the staff against the inner lip of the stuck iris and pointed the other toward Ruby.

“Oh, I get it,” said Ruby. “Good plan.” She launched herself off the wall fist-first, and her gauntlet slammed into the end of the golden staff with enough force to bend it a bit. She flipped over uncontrollably until the orange gem caught her.

The iris, given a boost by Ruby’s punch and the golden staff, churned the rest of the way open. “Excellent,” said the orange gem, and tossed Ruby into the ship proper. The rest of the cadets followed her, and once the orange gem twisted the appropriate panel on the inside, the iris slid smoothly shut. “Let’s hope we don’t need that for the next however-long.”

“What’s the next step?” asked the gem with the shoulder light.

“Gravity,” said one of the others, and there was some laughter.

“That’s pretty high on our list, yeah,” said the orange gem. “But right now our best bet--”

“Actually,” another gem interrupted, “we, ah, might have a problem that needs solving.”

“What’s that?” asked the orange gem.

A blue gem floated up, her white hair half-covering her single eye. “I was too short to notice when we were in the shuttle, but when I was trying to get my bearings in the airlock, well...” She paused, closing her eye.

“Well, what?” said Ruby. “We don’t have all day, we have to get up to the bridge and find out what our assignment is.”

“That’s the problem,” said the blue gem. “I think we’re already compromised.”

“What do you mean?” asked the orange gem.

“The pilot said that the nine of us were together for this part of the training - that the nine of us had to solve all of the problems ourselves. I remember, she said it twice.”

“Yeah?” asked Ruby.

“The problem is, I count ten.”


	2. Chapter 2

“That can’t be right,” said one of the gems.

“No, she is correct,” another said. “I have also counted. We have ten among us.”

“Fine,” said the orange gem, silencing some muttering. “If you’re not supposed to be here, let us know now. Nobody’s going to hurt you, we just want to make sure you get back to Homeworld safely.”

Nobody said anything.

“Really? Nobody’s going to speak up? Come on, it’s okay. We’re not upset, we just want to make sure you’re where you belong.”

Again, silence filled the room.

“Okay, fine,” the orange gem said after a minute’s quiet. “Let’s at least introduce ourselves so we know who’s who. I’m Aventurine.”

“Ruby,” said the red gem.

Her tall friend nudged her. “You already said that in the airlock. I’m Spinel.”

The gem who’d counted ten spoke up. “I’m Sapphire.”

“I’m Celestite,” said the gem with the shoulder light.

“I am Jade,” said a gem in the back, short and green.

Another green gem spoke up, this one run through with red stripes. “Heliotrope.”

“Xenotime,” said a grey gem. 

“Beryl,” a rose-colored gem said.

“A-and I’m T-topaz,” said the final gem, a yellow girl at the back of the crowd.

“No need to be nervous,” Aventurine said. “We’re all friends here, right? We just want to make it out of this assignment.”

Jade cleared her throat. “Now that we all know each other’s names, we ought to move to the bridge so we can find out our assignment.”

“Right,” said Aventurine. “Anyone know where it is?”

“Hold on,” said Sapphire. She closed her eye and held her breath, then let it out a moment later. “I can’t see more than a few seconds into the future. I’m sorry.”

“It was worth a try. And good to know.” Aventurine’s grin glinted even in the dim light. “Anyone else?”

Celestite moved over to a control panel. “I can try to get an information panel working. It’s a long shot since we only have emergency power…”

Ruby elbowed Spinel. “We’ll go see if we can find the power plant and get this hulk back online.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Sapphire. “You might not be there for the briefing.”

Ruby grinned. “Someone else’ll fill us in. I’ve gotta do something or my head’s gonna explode.” She pushed off down one of the coreward hallways. “C’mon, Spinel, let’s fix us an engine.”

Spinel rolled her eyes. “You got it, Ruby.” The two gems floated down the corridor and out of the range of the dim light.

In the silence that followed, Celestite banged the heel of her hand against the wall plating. “No use. I can get it to light up, but the computer’s offline without main power.”

Aventurine looked around at the remaining eight gems. “Okay. Then the rest of us should split up and start evaluating the layout and condition of the ship.”

“If we pair off, won’t that leave one of us alone with the impostor?” asked Xenotime.

“We’re not pairing off. We’ll split up in threes.” She gestured to Beryl, Jade, and Xenotime. “You three go down the corridor to my left. If I’m not completely turned around, that’s footward. Map out the corridors and rooms and see if you can find anything useful.”

Jade straightened. “I will be the determiner of my own fate, and of my own group, if you pl--”

“I do not please.” Aventurine cut her off. “I know you’re used to getting your way, but we’re all cadets here, and we’ve got a job to do. It doesn’t help anything except your ego to be contrary. You’ve got a hundred millennia of giving orders ahead of you. You can spend an hour taking them. Now get going.”

Jade met Aventurine’s gaze for a few tense seconds, then nodded. “I should not have expected less from an Aventurine. Come, Beryl, Xenotime, let us get our hands dirty.”

Aventurine waited until Jade’s group had gone around a bend before she let her breath out. “I thought we were going to have the first fight of the mission right here.” Everyone laughed a little and Aventurine smiled. “All right. Heliotrope, Topaz, and Sapphire, why don’t you head hipward and see what you can find? I’ll stay here with Celestite and we’ll see if we can get communications working, at least.”

Sapphire nodded. “That seems wise. We will report back in an hour.”

“Th-thank you, Aventurine,” Topaz said, and the three gems headed off into the darkness.


End file.
